Menu
Home Blog News Recording of the Giant Squid Conference Call with Seth, Bonnie & Gil

Recording of the Giant Squid Conference Call with Seth, Bonnie & Gil

Screen shot 2012-11-12 at 8.35.41 AMToday I was joined by Seth Godin (Squidoo Founder) and Gil Hildebrand (Squidoo Chief Engineer) on a live conference call with 150 of our Giant Squids to discuss some of the details of our updated policy.

You can listen to a recording of this call right here. The actual call starts at about 3 minutes into the recording and I apologize for the “beeps”. Those are from people entering the call.

Many of the questions that came in were very similar so we boiled them down to the 4 most requested ones which included: What is prompting the changes at Squidoo? What actions are being taken to remove spam and what happens if my lens gets flagged? Can you clarify what you mean by “ugly buttons” or too many affilate links? and What do you see as the best way for Giant Squids to lead by example?

I think if you listen to the whole recording you’ll get these answers and much more!

Here are some nice comments from around the community about the call:

“I am re-committing myself to my work/fun at Squidoo.”

“You, Gil, and Seth are all so authentic that I am all the more excited about being here, now, at this time in Squidoo’s story.”

“The main message: Create unique content that you can be proud of, don’t try to cheat the system, make your lenses personal, build trust with your readers.”

“Message I got was “lead by example”. It was really nice to hear the voices behind the curtain who want Squidoo to be the best it can be and always work towards that goal.”

“That’s why I love Squidoo! Listening in on that call was very encouraging and I’m glad they’re cleaning up house and making sure it stays a great place for writers!”

This is why we love Squidoo and are committed the amazing content that we see everyday. We’re excited about the future and can’t wait to see YOUR next lens.

Bonnie Diczhazy (bdkz) is Editor of the SquidooHQ Blog and Head of Community here at Squidoo.com.

  • TomMaybrier

    Super cool! Thanks for sharing the recording!

  • Pingback: The Giant Squids Conference Call About Squidoo Changes

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/CCGAL CCGAL

    I’m glad to see that you were able to get this recording up so quickly. What y’all said made a lot of sense, and perhaps answered some of my internal questions. I’m sure I’m not the only one who will be watching to see what happens next. Here’s hoping the next 7 years are as productive and inspiring as the past have been. Cheers!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/MarcoG MarcoG

    Thank you so much for doing that, must have taken time out of your schedules! I think it was very effective. It seemed to make much more sense hearing it, than reading it. Perhaps reading the guidelines, makes you over analyse and become paranoid, I don’t know. It’s nice hearing that you all want Squidoo to be the best (of course, we all do), but to hear it, made it more personal to me somehow. We want the search engines to like Squidoo, and the only way to do that is to make sure ALL of our pages are nothing but tip top!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Othercat Othercat

    Personally, I was disappointed with the call. I expected over an hour of y’all answering specific questions but what we got instead was 20 minutes of y’all giving us the run-around and telling us stuff we already know (we already knew that you want personal content). The only new information you gave us was that Giants will get 3 weeks to update our lenses (thank you for that). But you could’ve just told us that in a blog post.

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/BlueObsidian BlueObsidian

      I completely agree. Why did they even ask us to provide questions when they obviously were not going to use them? I feel like the advertising of what this call was going to be was completely misleading and it was a waste of time. I learned absolutely nothing new.

      • MuleWagon

        They answered my question, as well as several others that I would have asked. I was taking notes,and so perhaps paid more attention ot the content.

        • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/BlueObsidian BlueObsidian

          I paid attention to the entire 20 minutes, and read a follow-up transcript. There were four vague questions answered when the initial invitation said 10 to 12. How do those numbers add up to you?

          • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/AstroGremlin AstroGremlin

            Y’all have just been put on notice. The point of the call was not to entertain questions. The point was to let y’all hear with y’all’s own ears that, giant or not, Squidoo is letting y’all know, without any run around or discussion: The system is going to purge the defect, the toxin, the problem that is causing a drop in traffic. Squidoo owes you nothing. It does, however, have a prerogative to protect its own survival. Godin commented on snarky comments coming in and that he doesn’t have time to argue. I wouldn’t count on a detailed blueprint of where the line is. If you stepped over it, the line will let you know. I don’t need to listen again. It was really, really clear.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/tembrooke tembrooke

    Thanks so much for the call today. I was disappointed that it wasn’t longer, but I really appreciate the effort to reassure us and boost our spirits. I definitely think that communication from HQ to lensmasters is key in getting us through these changes on the site.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/LadyDuck LadyDuck

    Thanks for sharing the recording :D

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/terrapin719 terrapin719

    Glad a replay was provided for those who could not attend. I know our Squids across the pond will really appreciate it :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/karmicchristian karmicchristian

    Thanks for the recording. Expected more from the call! For example – a brief on how it (the show) has been driven so far and what is the ‘vision’ of the organization going forward, etc. More posts on that coming forth perhaps!?

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/squidoopets squidoopets

    I fell in love with squidoo all over again today and am re-inspired, re-committed and refreshed. Thank-you from the heart for reaching out to us and making the connection.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/thrivingmom thrivingmom

    Thank you so much for recording this and posting it so quickly for us to listen to. Also, thank you for the 3 weeks grace to repair lenses. Yay. Now I’m off to go give it a listen. Thanks again!

  • MandeeSears

    Awesome!

  • http://www.EarningFreeMoney.com/ Louida M

    Hehe…I love you’ve added my quote Bonnie!
    I’m glad that Squidoo did this conference call because to be honest with you, I’ve been too scared to write anymore on Squidoo since I didn’t know what is Squidoo’s standards. Thanks Squidoo Team for reassuring me that Squidoo is a great place for writers to express themselves!

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/bdkz bdkz

      You’re welcome! Glad we were able to offer some reassurance.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/LiliLove LiliLove

    This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing the recording, I really appreciate it!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/KyraB KyraB

    Looking forward to listening to it, I was so hoping I could as I did not have a question of my own but wanted to hear others and get answers about things that I may need to know for the future. Thank you so much for posting it and so quickly too!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/MSchindel MSchindel

    I am really grateful that you, Gil and especially Seth took time out of your busy schedules to speak with us directly about the impetus for the changes and to express your appreciation for our contributions. I don’t always like every change made by Squidoo HQ, but I’ve always felt confident that they were done with forethought, based on hard information and sound reasoning, and intended to benefit Squidoo as a whole and individual lensmasters whose contributions support Squidoo’s values. What I heard today reinforced that confidence. Thank you!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Duane_Jackson Duane_Jackson

    I have not comes across a site that involves its contributors the way you all did by taking this initiative to reach out. Great things are in store for Squidoo thanks to the team effort you all inspire in everyone who choose to be here.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/CosmeticMom CosmeticMom

    Thanks for sharing the recording with us!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/flycatcher flycatcher

    So glad you’re sharing this recording with the community. We’ll want to listen to it several times over. I appreciate that you’re not reducing Squidoo to a ‘cookie cutter’ set of rules but trusting your lensmasters to create work we can each be proud to put our names (or pseudonyms :)) on and that adds something of worth to the internet as a whole. That’s a bit of an awesome responsibility, but I’m totally energized to give it the ol’ college try! Thanks, HQ.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/jennifer-lawyer jennifer-lawyer

    Just finished listening to this…thanks to all three of you! Although I have only been here at Squidoo for 6 months (and I have only this month begun to make a few dollars), the message in this conversation is the reason I love “coming to work” here! Keep up the good work! :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/partybuzz partybuzz

    Thanks for posting the recording. I enjoyed it. I know you guys have always done the best for us. Things have changed since I first joined 4 years ago, and always for the better. I also want to say that I’ve seen so many awesome lenses by our newbies!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/GiftRepSandy GiftRepSandy

    Very cool! I am going to listen to recording!!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/AlleyCatLane AlleyCatLane

    The reaffirming of Squidoo’s positive philosophy was great, and I am all for cleaning up the site and getting rid of spam. However, I have to admit that I was disappointed that the call was so short (when the email stated it would last for an hour and 25 minutes) and that specific questions that were submitted and might have assuaged some anxiety were not addressed. It would be nice if, once a lensmaster’s lenses are reviewed, we could receive a brief email to let us know if we passed muster, instead of anxiously waiting to check daily to see if we are going to be locked.

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/thenumber73 thenumber73

      Good point regarding notification. Perhaps some sort of indicator on the dashboard to indicate a lens has been scanned and has passed with flying colours.

      It would help avert any worry that some people might be having. :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/KateHon KateHon

    I appreciate that everyone from SquidooHQ on down are so interested in keeping lens quality of the highest caliber possible. It’s wonderful to be associated with such a great organization!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/shoppingdaddy shoppingdaddy

    Thanks a lot for sharing this info! I’m getting more and more excited about being a part of the Squidoo family! Where else does the founder take the time to address important changes directly to the participants?

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/AllJDesigns AllJDesigns

    Everything that was said was straightforward and to the point and I understand everything much more now :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/anka_n anka_n

    This was really the clarification we all needed at this point. I don’t think there would have been more to say. By the way – thank you for answering my question regarding Squidoo’s vision of the future!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/knitstricken knitstricken

    Well worth a second listen. I’m sharing it with my kids as an example of how there can be authentic dialogue even on a one-way conference call (and to give them an even stronger footing as they begin their Squidoo journeys!) A sincere THANK YOU to Seth, Gil, Bonnie (and Robin and Susan and…) On with the day! :o)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/rihamah rihamah

    thanks will listen to it

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/kajohu kajohu

    As other people have commented, this was very reassuring to me in terms of clarifying what Squidoo is looking for. It was delightful to listen to!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/sockii sockii

    Thanks for having the call and also for posting it online for those who couldn’t make it. It was nice hearing some of the current concerns and issues addressed heads-on and brought a lot of clarity to some of the things many have felt confused about of late. Might I suggest that such round-tables or State-of-the-Squidoo calls (perhaps even as podcasts) would be great to have more regularly in the future? Even just every few months or so? I think it would be a nice way to keep everyone informed and understanding how to best focus their Squidoo efforts.

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TheMu5ki TheMu5ki

      Sincerely agreeing with you :)
      Every hard work can be brought to perfection only if we know how to design it according to the Squiddy needs! Borders and corners were just given a new meaning through this.. .

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Susan52 Susan52

    Thanks for posting the recording. I took in a whole lot more the second time around when I could pause and think as I listened. Feeling inspired here!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/JeffChristov JeffChristov

    The only thing I can say after hearing this conversation is – Thank you for all the effort and belief.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/KyraB KyraB

    Thank you so much for doing that! It was good to hear and I found it in some ways to be encouraging especially what Seth said about how he has built trust with his readers so much so that even though all he did on lens was to write a real short review on the books that he sold so many of them. I thought that was pretty cool :)

    Also I am relieved and grateful that all Giant Squids will be given three weeks to fix up a lens that gets flagged down and that after they fix it up (not sure how this works) that the warning will automatically be removed. Good to know that so if I or anyone else has lens that does not meet up to Squidoo’s standards that all hope is not lost for it yet and that you can still work on it and make it something good to be proud of.

    I was astonished to hear their is 3 million or so lens masters on Squidoo! That blew me away! And for all of you who like me have been blessed with having a lens chosen or if your really lucky more then one as LotD or even just to be rotated on the front page, that you have lens that would singled out from (I don’t how many millions of others) is really special, I didn’t realize quite how special till now.

    Thank you Bonnie, Seth, and Gil for all that you are doing!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/BarbaraCasey BarbaraCasey

    A couple of things on the call really hit home: (1) How do I fit into this topic? and (2) Make something I can put my name proudly on. Yep.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/tvyps tvyps

    Agree with CCGAL below…that was quick, must’ve been Gil who is a fast-swimmer. No gripes here. I was disappointed though, that I didn’t get hear Robin, Susan or Tom’s voices. Maybe they are recording shy or maybe have cartoon voices? ha! I also want to know how many Psycho-related shower curtain lenses there are. Maybe I will do one with the “Bates Motel?” JK! Great job. (This post intended to lighten up some anxieties still being shown below).

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/tvyps tvyps

      Just write from your heart and you’ll do fine…oh, don’t forget to help others, that is what it’s all about.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/WebLori WebLori

    I am new to Lens building and am thankful for you sharing this call.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/tvyps tvyps

    I am a self-proclaimed “people pleaser,” that is why I initially had anxiety. If you worry about how many “likes” or “comments” you get and that gauges how you deem success, that is no longer the case. Just rest assured that your are being read and that you are telling your story. If it feels good when your right it or read it, it is ok.I needed to get over my anxieties and the call helped. It is also assuring that we are just one of 3 million and that makes the Giants special. Thank you & God Bless.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Titia Titia

    I couldn’t participate in the conference due to high telephone costs so I’m glad you’ve put up the recording so fast. I’ve listened to it carefully and heard what you all said and I could understand and agree. I only hope that you will keep listening to us too, it ‘s important to keep communicating in the good way. I won’t yell at you anymore, but just say what’s bothering me in a more friendly manor. You should keep listening to the longterm Giants who know, better than anyone else, who’s gaming what and who’s playing fair.

    So let’s work together again and make this the place again which it once was and thank you for still believing in us. Oh and it was very nice to hear all of your voices, now I know the voice that goes with the face.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/linsm76 linsm76

    I ran this recording twice and it suddenly cuts off at 16.23.

  • gloria freeman

    Thanks for posting this, and giving us time to work on our lens.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/MelissaNRodgz MelissaNRodgz

    I think the call was great. Despite the loss in traffic, it is nice to see that Squidoo is still focusing on the positive which is the strength of the community.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Wahponywoo Wahponywoo

    Just listened to the recording… there was an abundance of common sense something I believe in passionately… thank you I totally get it…when I completed my first lens I was clueless… stuck with it and kept polishing my process… and then out of the blue I received a purple star for one of my lenses… it is my personal benchmark… from here froward all my lenses will try to live up to those standards.. and beyond.. thank you :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/SheilaMilne SheilaMilne

    I was really delighted to hear your voices – real people! :) Everything you said makes so much sense.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/nrgfwd nrgfwd

    Fantastic;)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/SheilaSchnauzies SheilaSchnauzies

    I am so grateful for the recording – as I ended up missing the call! (One of the downsides to recovering from knee replacement, darn it!) Personally, I thought it was wonderful to put voices with faces and names for the first time! I think we have an excellent team leading us and I see nothing but a good future ahead for those of us who want this to be a place of quality lenses that people will trust. Thank you Seth, Gil and Bonnie for providing this new outlet of communication. I hope there will be more in the future to look forward to!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/SmokeybonesJr SmokeybonesJr

    This was a good coversation for me to hear! I usually do not have much time to spend on Squidoo but the time I do get I LOVE IT! This is a great community. Being new, I was getting a little worried about what I was reading in the forum. When I get a chance, I try to write about what I love and spend little time of the profit modules. I will work on that a little more, but it was just good to hear y’all laying out a path ahead. Makes me feel better :-)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Teri-Singer Teri-Singer

    I’ve listened to the call and the overall message. The mature approach is appreciated, especially when it is addressing a large audience. I look forward to seeing the outcomes and changes that will take place here.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/lbrummer lbrummer

    I just listened to the conference call recording and want to let all of you at HQ know that you are appreciated. Thanks for using this method to keep us “in the loop.” I’m thoroughly enjoying Squidoo. Actually I’m glad that my lenses will be checked because I’d really like to know if I’m doing things right, or if I need to rethink and redo. Even I’m not too old to learn!!!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/OrgyofLife OrgyofLife

    Good to listen to thank you.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/CarolHoule CarolHoule

    Just what I wanted to hear. ThanX. I began looking into Squidoo last summer. When I started viewing the “Shower Curtains” I was a little put off. I joined last February, so it’s only been a month, but I’ve seen the Squidoo people take action. Now I feel reassured that the Squids will carry on

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/BruceBair BruceBair

    Good call. Think you as usual are on the right track. I look forward to becoming a Giant Squid

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/infoprogirl infoprogirl

    I love being a part of this community. Changes always seem scary at first, but after the initial fear, we almost always appreciate the value that the particular change brings about. Thanks for sharing the call with us.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/blackspanielgallery blackspanielgallery

    Great, I would have been on the call except I work at that time.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TanoCalvenoa TanoCalvenoa

    My aunt is a giant squid and already told me about this conference.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/DChance DChance

    I was wondering if I was putting up too many products on one of my lens. I am a fan of most of those products but maybe I should create more lens for the products themselves. Not all the products but the ones I want to say more about then just what will fit on that Amazon module. I think that some products deserve their own lens and need their own space.
    Thanks for the conference.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/kiwinana71 kiwinana71

    Thanks for recording, and sharing the conference call with all of us, especially the one’s that live in other parts of the world and couldn’t make the call. I don’t think we missed anything, I got the message and understand fully what it is that Squidoo want.
    Happy Days to all.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/HolidayGirl HolidayGirl

    I appreciate the call being posted for all of us to listen too. I love the values that Squidoo is setting not only in the community, but for anyone searching for information of value on the search engines as well. I thought I did a great job on my lens, but I can see where adding more personalization can help connect the reader not only with myself and my lens, but the Squidoo community as a whole. Thank you. :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/thenumber73 thenumber73

    Just finished listening, and feel reinvigorated about the future here on Squidoo.

    I thought the call added a great personal touch that just wouldn’t have come across in writing. As per my recent ‘Open Letter’ that I posted over on the forum, I’ve had my concerns about the direction Squidoo might have been headed in, but I’m no longer worried.

    Not because every specific question I might have had was directly addressed, but because the call gave me a personal glimpse into the people working behind the scenes. I could hear the passion in each of your voices, and sense how much you love working for Squidoo. And that to me meant more than the answers themselves, because I feel that if the three of you (and the other staff as well hopefully) are that passionate and committed to Squidoo’s future and care enough to interact with the lensmasters in this personal way, that we can all trust whatever decisions you might make.

    Great job, and thanks guys. :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TheLifestyleChanger TheLifestyleChanger

    I appreciate your efforts to extend your concerns and explanations to us. Bravo Squidoo!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/najoslin najoslin

    Lots of basic common sense in this recording. It’s unfortunate that a few bad apples can damage everyone’s reputation if they aren’t dealt with. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us – and for keeping it positive!

  • Pingback: Thoughts About The Squidoo Conference Call & Giant Squid Questions Answered | Crystal Touchton .com

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Deborah-Diane Deborah-Diane

    Thank you so much for sharing the conference call with those of us who could not listen today. I loved what I heard and it really did make me want to recommit myself to writing more and even better lenses here at Squidoo. Thanks!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/LaughingLady LaughingLady

    Thanks again for doing this, too! I, for one, appreciate the fact that it’s transparent and out there for us all to hear. After all, choosing to author a lens or many on Squidoo is voluntary, so having the information allows us to make informed decisions. I’m happy about the move to clean up and clear out so Squidoo rises to the top. It can only benefit us all who choose to stay.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/SoundFinance SoundFinance

    I feel so much better after listening to the recording…I had a lot of trouble listening though as it kept stopping but I managed to get through. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/oddobjective oddobjective

    Unfortunately I was unable to call in and listen to the call live. However, I just want to say I feel it was a good call. I recently had a lens flagged and I went and looked at it again and again and for the life of me could not see what was wrong with the lens. I did challenge the flag and asked for further explanation. I received back a comment that really did not pertain to my lens and was told it was coming down. I was disapppointed but because I love Squidoo I deleted the lens. Well thank goodness I saved a copy because I got a response back that they it was approved after all. I could have been upset and bitter about it but I just reloaded it and submitted it. I accepted their apology (we all make mistakes) and I did learn a lot from the experience. First, that there were a few little tweaks that needed to be made to the lens. Second, that someone really does review the lens and not just take it down. Third, if they make a mistake they own it. So I ended up with valuable experiences that I feel will only help me get better as I move forward.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/nancycarol nancycarol

    First of all, a word of thanks to Bonnie, who is always a positive force on Squidoo. Second, I appreciate the fact that both Gil and Seth spoke about their vision and plans for Squidoo’s future. However, I’m honest in expressing my disappointment in the short length of the conference and I feel there were issues that were not addressed. For the future, I have decided to write, write and write more lenses. You can tell me what is acceptable and what is not, after which I will try my best to fix them. If I can’t for any reason, then so be it, they’ll be locked and deleted. I love Squidoo and want only the best for it, and I hope to always be a part of it. Thanks for putting this recording out for those who could not attend.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/getmoreinfo getmoreinfo

    So glad you’re sharing this recording with the community. It helps us find clarity and know what our priorities should be going forward.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Rhonda-Ryan Rhonda-Ryan

    Nice :-) , thanks for sharing with us :-)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TheCureForYouthMinistry TheCureForYouthMinistry

    Just listened to the call and I liked what everyone said. Thanks Gil for the heads up and making it easy for Giant Squids to correct issues if there any. Lead by example and be your best are my simple takeaways. Well done.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/beaworkathomemom beaworkathomemom

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am happy that I am part of the Squidoo family.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/LeenaBK LeenaBK

    Thanks so much for sharing the recording. It’s good to know that Squiddo trusts us lensmasters for making quality content. I’m completely inspired and motivated.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/ESPeck ESPeck

    That was a great call. I was going to concentrate more on my lenses already, now that I have some more time and energy, but I’m more motivated to do so. It’s always wonderful to see genuine feeling in the leaders.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/miaponzo miaponzo

    Boooo hoooo I was supposed to be on that call, but I couldn’t get it to work.. the program just kept telling me that the log in number was incorrect :( :) No, problem, I can hear it now.. SO EXCITING though!

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/tvyps tvyps

      They kept you off bc you are a troublemaker! hahaha…Just kidding! Hope things are going well for you.

      • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/miaponzo miaponzo

        Yes.. I know :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/victel victel

    Am I the only one who can’t hear it? I have my system volume on but when I press play and skip forwards I can just hear a very muffled noise even when my speakers are on full. Not sure why :-/

    • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/victel victel

      Figured it out. It’s a Chrome issue. Plays in IE.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/aesta1 aesta1

    Thanks for giving us the chance to listen to the call. I appreciate the HQ effort to reach out. I also commend the recent effort to clean out lenses that do not add value at all to Squidoo.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/MarcStorm MarcStorm

    Thank you so much for having this conference call! I thoroughly appreciate the opportunity to be able to download the file and be able to listen to it, seeing as how some of us were unable to attend.

    It was brilliant! I absolutely get it and I’m totally psyched about everything! I was laughing at the part when Seth was talking about a lens example of the Psycho shower scene and the curtains lol! I can positively say that I’m one of the many people who gets everything that was said!

    I’m so happy that all the bad spammy lenses are being removed and I hate when someone tries to game the system. All those horrible scheming lenses being blasted to smithereens will surely help us honest lensmasters climb the golden stairs of worthiness. I love being able to write a lens and see that so many people, from all walks of life & from so many countries are visiting my writings.

    I have been continually updating my lenses and cleaning them up in an effort to make them better. I will be going back through them again, with an even more focused eye and deleting anything that doesn’t deserve to be there. Thankfully my lenses have never been an onslaught of endless blocks of products but I did have a ratio going in the wrong direction.

    I figured the reason for all of this recent work by the Squidoo heads was to ensure the survival of this wonderful site, it’s gifted lensmasters and the awesome lenses we make. Equally so, I had a feeling traffic was declining due to the search engines finding too many un-digestable pages. The search engines need good pages to build strong and healthy, and can’t do so with fatty foods in the form of thin, undesirable robotic lenses.

    Ok, so, in closing, I had just finished listening to the recording, right before I started writing this long comment, and thought I’d voice my opinion on how fantastic it was! Thank you Seth, Bonnie & Gil! You guys are rocking it! I’m so psyched!!! I totally get it! I’m so proud to be a Giant Squid!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/SteadyPath SteadyPath

    Thank you so much for posting the link to the conference call! I think that making Squidoo a better place is a great thing! For me, Squidoo is a learning experience and I am gaining a lot of knowledge and confidence from constructive suggestions. We should all work towards making a “Lens for the Day” and provide quality content!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Helenee Helenee

    It was nice & fun listening to your voices, Bonnie.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/VickiSims VickiSims

    Thank you for posting a link to the recording so those of us who were not available at the time of the live call could listen in.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/NanaPoppins NanaPoppins

    The recording really left me with a positive outlook about squidoo. It just reaffirms what needs to be changed. Thank you for posting this.

  • BLemley

    I really appreciated the conference call and I think that’s a great way of communicating the strength of Squidoo and the vision ~ audibly! Thanks! B : )

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Mickie_G Mickie_G

    Was out of town when this call happened, so I do appreciate the recording.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Sholland10 Sholland10

    Very helpful to hear what is going on behind the scenes with Giant Squids and keeping the quality of Squidoo up. Great points! Thank you for sharing it because even though I have belonged to Squidoo for a couple of years, I am just trying to get started (slowly but surely) and want to know what is going on.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Doc_Holliday Doc_Holliday

    I appreciate the recording as I was unable to make the conference call. Don’t worry about the beeping Bonnie. You get used to them :-)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/favored1 favored1

    I tried listening to it, but all I hear are the peeps. Is there something I should be doing differently?

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Lovelifelaughter Lovelifelaughter

    I tried to listen but the tape kept freezing and Although I had the volume turned up, I couldn’t hear the dialogue. It might be my iPad though.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/EditorDave EditorDave

    Wow. 3 million lensmasters on Squidoo? (And we usually only see 2 million when we start a new lens and let it sit for a while before releasing it to the world! …. I sort of wonder what those other million lensmasters are really doing other than just signing in and taking up space. [just kidding!]) … The call was good on clarifying what I’ve always felt … too many folks trying to scam the system and squeeze moolah out of it… rather than contributing real content. Unfortunately, with my ADD and OCD (and GPS?), I tend to either hyperfocus on some things (thus some of my overly in-depth lenses) or get a bit scatterbrained and brief attention-span on others. I worry about some of my *other* lenses that are like my orphaned step-children. Maybe because they are on topics that are so obscure that no-one cares about them. I *do* try to put as much of my own personality into my lenses — using my own photos (or my kids’ photos … with their permission) and with my own stories. Sometimes I don’t participate in some of the quests — because I don’t have any interests or aptitudes in the topic of the quest. Sometimes I get lucky in that I’ve got a ton of information on a particular quest. Ah well. Thanks again for the call… and I’m very grateful that I’ve got a few weeks to *fix* some of my *non-performers* of lenses … I don’t believe they’re bad, but I probably need to tweak them nonetheless. When you have over 300 lenses, it takes a while to dig through them all. Aargh! :-)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Ilona1 Ilona1

    Totally loved the call (except for the weird beeps), laughed at Seth’s response to the snarky comments, and am inspired to improve my own work on Squidoo. Thanks for taking time to make the communication.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/samanthaperry samanthaperry

    Thanks for sharing this call,I need to Learn all I can about using Squidoo,as I’m fairly new here.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/bikerministry bikerministry

    So glad it went well. I had a commitment I couldn’t get out of, so I’m off to listen … so far just beeps ..

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/gold-crafters gold-crafters

    Awesome call, thanks for giving back to the people who support this wonderful working network!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/bikerministry bikerministry

    I’ve been here almost two years – and I’ve never felt more included and trusted than here on Squidoo. SO ENCOURAGING. Thank you, Gil, Bonnie and Seth. Here’s to the future!!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/CaztyBon CaztyBon

    This is my first Lens and I’ve been trying to navigate not just in making the Lens but also in trying to view other Lenses. My question is what have I done wrong that nobody wants to read my Lens?

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/chi_kung chi_kung

    What I would like to know if we can still have 9 links of our own going to a site eg. amazon or this is also forbidden now on the lenses…
    would be great to have clarifications on this!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/durmebugs durmebugs

    I’m new to squidoo and have really enjoyed the learning process. This recording has been a great help.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/grammieo grammieo

    I tried and tried to get in on this call, I was expecting a webinar online and was totally taken bak by the phone call in……I won’t bother with phone in, it’s too noisy and I prefer the online aspect. You can see where the calls are coming from and such. I could not get into the call at all and aborted any attempts after 30 minutes of trying.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/studyaids studyaids

    A great sound snippet.

  • http://www.sharisphotos.webs.com/ Shari

    Thank you for having a recording of the call available. It’s nice to know thar you care enough to make it available for those of us who couldn’t be there for one reason or another.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/lensesbyjames lensesbyjames

    wow thanks for this info

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Lovin_workin_at_home Lovin_workin_at_home

    LOVE hearing that the spammers will be hoisted by their own petards (or is that leotards? Retards?)…about time somebody took note!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/paperfacets paperfacets

    The last month or two I saw Seth on a national magazine on the newstand and in the LA Times as a lecturer visiting Southern California. Well, it was exciting to hear his opinions on this Squidoo only call. Thanks to all three of you, it was exciting to hear and I feel more committed than ever to being original.

    That is not all I heard, though; maybe we lost a little of the writer’s ownership of against. Meaning lensmasters can bring in more choices of arguments, say for example, it is good to build a bullet train in CA, or no it is a bad idea. Opinion pieces or lens have all but disappeared from Squidoo.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/lajkon lajkon

    Thanks for sharing the recording! I very appreciate that you have shared this recording with us.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/DivaChick DivaChick

    thanks for the call. Love the idea of fee back from other lens-master, would also love fee back from HQ. Maybe an affirmation of lens being on the right track…

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/favored1 favored1

    Finally got it to work. Thanks appreciate the information.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/charlino charlino

    Thank you for sharing this information. Looking forward to the future.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/AstroGremlin AstroGremlin

    I listened to the call. I felt a palpable concern about a good thing that seems to be threatened by lensmasters “gaming the system.” Here’s the deal: Squidoo is like Wikipedia. It depends on people doing their best to create content that doesn’t suck. Seth Godin says he “doesn’t have time” to monitor, argue, or make the community keep the pledge. He doesn’t. This thing, this Squidoo, offers a remarkable feature: to share in the proceeds, something Godin notes that Facebook, Twitter, and the others don’t offer. I detected neither guile, nor greed, nor corporate paranoia. The search engines have detected bad signals. Unfortunately, the programmers have to deal with that threat or see the work of years damaged and undermined. Squidoo owes you nothing. Do I predict that a hard rain is gonna fall? Well, given that the search engines are picking up bad signals, and Squidoo apparently has access to those signals, and that million$ are on the line, if you are gaming, mass producing lenses with algorithm-like methods, or writing thin content with a bunch of aff links, yes, you will have a Panda, a Penguin and a very large Squid fall on you. All at once. Hard. Seth Godin made it super clear: we don’t have time to screw around. Therefore, I predict a time coming of chunks of flaming doo doo descending, a great gnashing of teeth, a winnowing of the herd, possibly with a coarse method. Still, I took away one important message: IF you are writing in the spirit of making something good, something you would share in Macy’s window, the best lens you can make, great content, and in compliance with the community’s rules, you have nothing to fear. Expect change..

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/heehaw heehaw

    thanks for sharing the call. i hope there would have more call conference been shared with us all in future.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Words-of-Encouragement Words-of-Encouragement

    Thanks for explaining what’s been happening. I wasn’t aware, but I’m also not surprised. I’m not sure I’ve run into any spammy lenses yet. I have seen some that were poorly written, meaning language issues or lack of proofreading. I often rate lenses with a “like” simply because I like the topic and thought the info was helpful. Maybe that’s the wrong focus, but I wasn’t critiquing a lens for how well it was put together. I am glad to hear that Squidoo folks are working to preserve the integrity of the site and to maintain page rankings with the search engines.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/SusanRDavis SusanRDavis

    Thank you for the call. I’ll admit that I’ve been pretty twisted up by some of the latest changes, but the call really helped put some things in perspective. I am also REALLY happy to see the increased transparency regarding upcoming changes. My single biggest concern was waking up to a “surprise” new test feature to adapt to. Letting us know things ahead of time should go a long, long way towards minimizing my stress. :-)

    I was really feeling like Squidoo was testing new features that seemed counterproductive to giving our pages a good reputation online (black bar, anyone?) but I am afraid I did come out pretty negative publicly about that one, to my regret.

    I think today’s call was a good reminder that Squidoo’s folks aren’t out to “get anyone” who has a positive addition to Squidoo’s reputation and content quality.

    I’m going to do some serious thinking about what makes a good sales lens. Obviously for those of us who do make sales-style lenses with intent to profit, Squidoo still supports us. But Squidoo is supporting us as a platform for sharing our opinions, our ideas, and our personal perspective on products, not – as they put it – as a generic catalog you can find on any e-commerce site.

    I think the one best thing I gleaned here was Squidoo’s intent to give Google what it really wants – pages of content that can’t be found elsewhere. Yes, Squidoo lets us profit, but it is a bit rude (I’m coming to see) for me to churn out a page that contains little but a small catalog of products available on Amazon with no personal input on my recommendations.

    I still believe that a larger number of products with affiliate links is okay, but only if I’m truly adding value – sharing my reasons for choosing those particular ones (not just putting every one on the page) and also curating what I feel are the best choices for different people’s needs.

    I’m going to go back through all of my sales-related lenses and make sure that for every section of product content, there’s either a personal touch from me that is uniquely me and/or adding value to the section by sharing my reasons for recommending these products.

    I’m glad for the reminder that a good page is a page I’m willing to claim publicly without embarrassment or the need to justify myself for making it.

    Yes, affiliate marketing is part of how I make my living. But in return for the benefits Squidoo offers us with reputation, traffic, and free tools for publishing, I am re-committed to honoring Squidoo’s mission of publishing great content with my personal touch and my added value, and not just complying with DO and DON’T rules.

    People have been saying recently that Squidoo owns Squidoo, not us and so quit griping. I’m not 100% comfortable with that because what we do for Squidoo is a benefit to them. But as PARTNERs, we have responsibilities to each other. We make them money as well as making ourselves money. In return, they offer tools, reputation, traffic – and a share of those profits. I think we ALL “own” Squidoo to some degree.

    As positive contributing members and “owners”, I think that WE should appreciate Squidoo for all they manage for us behind the scenes to keep Squidoo a positive platform for our great content. It is not only their right but their (and our) responsibility to add to the good and not facilitate the bad.

    You can own something and profit from it, but that doesn’t mean you’re the president who gets to make day-to-day management decisions.

    Squidoo benefits, yes. But WE all benefit, too. So I think it’s time I shouldered my responsibility as a team member and beneficiary and not act like an entitled person. Just because it is free does not absolve me from the responsibility to honor Squidoo’s stated intent for existence.

    Sorry for the long comment/essay, but I really wanted to share a solid look at this changing situation and my altered perspective.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/RiaB RiaB

    Snarky thank you for posting the link! =)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/rattie rattie

    Unable to access the call.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/victor243 victor243

    Thanks for sharing the recording!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/celeryflag celeryflag

    I think that is awsome. Thank for that.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/bernadette1111 bernadette1111

    I’m so new that I didn’t realize there were any problems. Head high, chin up, face forward…I’m enjoying the site.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/worldflashpacker worldflashpacker

    Great information for a newbie like me, but why I so many people talking about leaving squidoo. Its all a bit cryptic for me, squidoo incentives sales, is this a bad thing now?

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Ninche Ninche

    Thank you for sharing this recording with us – very, very helpful!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/LarryClarkBlog LarryClarkBlog

    It’s all about quality and value of the lenses.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/edah1308 edah1308

    For the first time in my seven years on Squidoo I felt like I was able to get to know you folks. I am not very trusting of many platforms online, but have always felt comfortable here on Squidoo. I have seventeen babies here, of some of my best work. I appreciate you taking the time to allow me and others to hear your voices and to take the time to give us the lowdown. I’m not a squid giant, but I’m a squid no less, and hope to flourish and prosper in my writing. When I first started it was easier to get to know other lenses masters because I could join someones group, but that changed, would you consider bringing that back? Thank you for the conference call.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/LTykarski093 LTykarski093

    It is the 21st and I have attempted twice to access the call but have been unable to do so-moved on to the Squid question article and will attempt to listen to call prior to tomorrow. You may want to check the link should anyone else have this problem

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/grandmamarilyn grandmamarilyn

    Thank you for giving the link to the call as I couldn’t attend the actual call.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/madoc madoc

    I understand the need for a higher level of scrutiny. But i wonder if we also need some different categories of pages. My focus is history/geography/travel writing. I’m committed to getting people to know at least how countries are put together. You know there are people who have heard of the United States but have never heard of Alabama or Wisconsin? That Russia, even now, is made up over over 80 republics?

    There are two things that I’m going to get caught on: I have several index lenses, which are not designed to have content of their own. Right now, I’m adding Amazon lenses to them, as per requirement. For completeness, i have some lenses about places where there is little information to be curated. every place has stories, but i need to have something in place while I gather those stories (and put my personal imprinto n them). So why not just accept that these will be works in progress? Because there are way too many times in Squidoo where getting a bunch of lenses working together, requires that they all be in the published state. I need what some people call a sandbox, where I can see lenses exactly as they are published, but they don’t need submitted to the engines.. Others may need similar additions to Squidoo’s two lens categories.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/rlmodranski rlmodranski

    Thanks so much for posting this call!!! I wasn’t able to be there, so it was nice to listen at my leisure. Also just want to say thanks for all you do for Squidoo. One of the things that signed me up at the beginning was the honesty of all of your information. I’m pretty skeptical about internet promises, but you guys really didn’t make any! You completely told me what to expect and what not to expect before I even gave you my e-mail address . . . so I trusted you, and you haven’t let me down yet!!! Thanks again!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Debs Debs

    thanks for making this available to all of us in different time zones around the world!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/paul4595 paul4595

    very interesting A++

  • http://www.college-optional-careers.com/ College Optional Careers

    Thanks for posting the call!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/spa-products spa-products

    i always like to hear from the founders – makes you more a part of the community .

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/alexmasters alexmasters

    Thanks for the conference call and for clarifying things further. We definitely could do with more calls on matters of vital importance as this. Thanks too for a great platform.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/sherry-b sherry-b

    Thank you Seth, Gil, Bonnie, Robin, and Susan! It was good to hear what exactly is going on in Squidoo. Very thoughtful of all of you to take the time to do this conference call. To me, it explained a lot. I sure can see why Squidoo does not want poor lenses circulating the internet. They will lower the quality of the whole Squidoo platform, which affects everyone here, or at least that is what I think. I am still pretty new here, so I’ve been a bit unsure of what is allowed or not, although I’ve always understood that quality content is a must! I, myself, want to be able to make something I will be proud to have my name next to…something that will possibly help others out.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/earthybirthymama earthybirthymama

    It was great to be able to listen to the conference. Having a little baby in the house limits the amount of time, being able to listen after the fact is very helpful and reaffirms that all squid count :)

  • Steph Tietjen

    It’s inspiring to hear your voices. Thank you

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/John_Michael John_Michael

    interesting

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Deadicated Deadicated

    I applaud the changes and I really enjoyed hearing from the Wizards behind the Curtain; I LOVE Squidoo and I would never want to see the brand cheapened, Thanks for All Who make it happen and put their hard work and time into it.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/CuriousBoy CuriousBoy

    When I accept rules, I always try to stick to them…
    Even if I might have a different opinion.

    Personally, I think that Squidoo policies are fair and in line with the original intended spirit of the site.

    But…
    Stating rules and applying them consistently and in a fair way it is a completely different matter…
    Unfortunately this too may be subject to different opinions…

    Only common sense should prevail…

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/KonaGirl KonaGirl

    Thank you so much for posting the call. I was so bummed when I missed it and was having to rely on second party relays about it. I wish we could have more of these with the ability to ask questions like on a webinar.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/georgevtucker georgevtucker

    The added transparency is outstanding. Thanks for this.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/vikksimmons vikksimmons

    Thanks for posting the call as I was unable to attend. It would be nice if it could be up a little longer as I’d like to hear it again. Most of what I heard I expected. I appreciate that you stated out by explaining how you view the difference with regard to a sales lens.

    Clearly you are responding to the negative impact from the search engines and have identified those types of lenses that you feel are pulling down the rankings. Seth made it pretty clear that this is all about regaining Squidoo trust with the search engines.

    I came here because this was a platform that promoted writing that was personal, creative, and individual. I have a blog(s) but I wanted a place where I could write about other topics that I care about, and that has been what Squidoo provided–in a fun way, too.

    What I didn’t realize was the constant need for updating and a lot of the internal stuff. Despite having 8 purple stars and even a couple of lenses featured, I couldn’t figure out how anyone was making any money. The lenses that seemed to open up the cash drawer were and are the “sales” lenses.

    The typical sales lens isn’t really something that attracts me as a writer. Even more, I never really got why it even works because I use Amazon all day long to order stuff and the lenses stuffed with products don’t appeal to me. But apparently they appeal to someone because these are the people who are making money. I certainly am not. These are the successful lenses from a profitable standpoint.

    I’ve spent hours and hours, days and days, trying to understand how to create a good lens, and a similar amount of time trying to figure out how to have those lenses be profitable, too. What I concluded was that despite all the talk, the ones who really make money are those who are creating sales lenses. Since I don’t seem to have a passion for those, I am forever to be the poor, starving Squidoo writer.

    I truly get that earning any money is a by-product. That was pretty much what I had hoped would happen. I just never could make that part work.

    I actually enjoy Squidoo and like writing lenses. The one thing that actually drives me crazy is this whole constant need for updating. As a writer, I was taught to create a piece of writing that was complete and not in need of updates. :) So I find this whole updating a nuisance and really don’t understand why it’s done other than somehow it’s supposed to help you get into one of those tiers that no ever seems to get into anyway. So I admit my enthusiasm for Squidoo is not as high as it once was simply for the necessity for constant updating where I seem to have a psychological block.

    Since I”m clearly not here for the money, I guess I’m good to go. Thanks for expressing again why Squidoo was created and how the founders want to move it forward into the future. I enjoy the platform and enjoy writing about things that capture my attention. I seem to be in alignment. :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/servantoftheLord servantoftheLord

    Fantastic call and info. It was nice hearing the voices behind the faces! I tried to log in about 5 minutes after it was over the other day, so I really, really appreciate the recording being available. Now I feel pumped up, refreshed, and inspired to go out and give 110% to Squidoo. Thanks for all that y’all do to make this platform available to us, and to make it great.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Lovelifelaughter Lovelifelaughter

    Wow! I am so glad I tried again. I could hear it this time and I loved what I heard. I honestly didn’t expect it to be so interesting and involving. But if you don’t take the tome to find out you never know what you might miss, so that’s why I had another go. It was really nice to hear you all, and made me really appreciate the whole Squidoo thing even more. Thanks.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Niko Niko

    I like numbe73′s comment about an indicator on the dashboard

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/MaryMorgan MaryMorgan

    Good to hear the recording of this call and hear the answers to some of the questions that have been worrying us all.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/mutter mutter

    Thank you for making Squidoo a safe place and inspiring us to be creative!

Official news and updates from the Squidoo Team

Loading

Loading

Contributors